How To Draw Water Digital Painting

Master the art of painting h2o in Adobe Photoshop! In this tutorial, I'll show you how to pigment cute body of water waves using a few stock photos for reference. Learn how to gear up your document with the initial sketch before tackling the actual ocean painting.

Get inspired! For more sea inspiration check out these incredible Water References on Envato Market place.

Tutorial Assets

The post-obit assets were used in the product of this tutorial:

• Water Reference i - no longer available
• H2o Reference 2

1. How to Sketch the Bounding main Waves and Water

Earlier nosotros paint the ocean, we'll need a bones sketch. Please note that a graphics tablet is essential to complete this tutorial.

Step 1

Open a New Document in Photoshop at 1700 x 1700 pixels and 300 dpi.

Step ii

Now set up your references. A great fashion to keep references nearby is to ready them on a split up document apart from your painting. So open up your references in Photoshop and place both documents side by side like this.

Here I'll exist using these h2o references to assistance me understand the real movement of water as well every bit whatsoever details I'll demand to capture it completely.

Footstep 3

Let'southward depict the water! Select the Castor Tool (B) and employ a Hard Round Force per unit area Opacity Castor with 100% Flow and Opacity. Make sure the Pen Pressure for Opacity option is likewise checked.

Start with the horizon line. Concur Shift to draw a directly gray line across the middle of the canvas on a New Layer. Then draw a second line below it that is slightly angled in the management yous would like the wave to crash.

Step 4

Lower the Opacity of the guidelines (highlighted in blue). Draw more details on a New Layer, starting with the foreground elements. Use these lines as guides to judge the depth of field for the foreground, heart, and background waves.

Focus start on the center wave since it will exist the primary star. Then use flatter, squiggly lines to show the waves moving backwards in the distance. The "cloudy" parts of empty space are where nosotros will paint the ocean spray later.

Don't get as well fussy with your sketch—simply create natural brush strokes that are also a niggling wavy.

At present draw the clouds higher up the horizon line. Create big, cotton candy-similar shapes that blend into each other. Just like earlier with the waves, apply horizontal lines underneath the clouds to show where the clouds are falling back into infinite or just disappearing.

two. How to Paint the Base Colors

Step 1

Working with colors tin be hard. That'southward why I like to separate my base colors onto their ain New Layers for more control. Create a New Layer for the background sky, center ground water, and foreground waves.

Use the Polygonal Lasso Tool (L) to make a selection around each area before Filling them with colour using the Paint Saucepan Tool (G). Here are the colors I'll be using:

• Foreground: #41896d
• Middle ground: #254b5c
• Background: #5d8191

Stride 2

Get rid of the harshness of the gray sketch by blending information technology in. To do this, set the Layer Blend Manner of the sketch to Difficult Low-cal.

3. How to Shade the Water and Waves

Footstep 1

Add three more New Layers. Right-click each layer to set them equally a Clipping Mask to each colour.

Experience free to label these layers however yous'd like—here I but labeled them "shading."

Step 2

Now take hold of the Gradient Tool (G). Select the Shading layer for the center ground h2o and create a nighttime blue #0c3649 to transparent Linear Gradient. It'south of import that the h2o is darker when information technology's closest to the horizon line so that information technology appears as though it's further away.

Do the same for the foreground h2o. This time, use a slightly dissimilar blue color #184b5a to use a Linear Gradient that fades out equally it moves upward and to the left.

Step 3

You'll likewise need to apply a calorie-free blue #7ba4b3 Linear Slope to the top of the sky. Brand sure the blue appears lighter at the top of the cloud forms.

Pace iv

Select the Brush Tool (B) and use a Soft Round Brush with 0% Hardness to add more color to the canvas. As long as the Pen Pressure for Opacityselection is withal checked, your graphics tablet will control the amount of paint that'south applied.

Pigment highlights for the ocean, too as soft clouds in the sky.

This painting took over 100 layers to consummate, so I won't listing each layer, just for now, just make sure that the initial layers are set as Clipping Masks to the corresponding area that you're working on.

Pace 5

Deepen the foreground water by setting a New Layer to Multiply and using a light blue color to tint the water. Endeavour to brand the colors transition well as they move further into the distance.

Step 6

Earlier we motility on, let'south tackle the sky again. Use a Soft Round Brush to pigment more clouds with a slightly yellowish tint #b5ccc8. Then Fill a New Layer above the clouds with an orange Linear Gradient that fades as it moves upward.

4. How to Transition Past the Base Colors

Step ane

Once the initial shading is done, you can now button the realism of your painting. Do this by painting on New Layers above the Sketch layer until in that location'southward nigh no more sketch in sight. You tin keep a hint of the sketch underneath since it'll help usa build the waves later on.

Step 2

Tweak the colors of the painting then that everything works harmoniously. First add a Color Lookup Aligning Layer set to Kodak 5218 Kodak 2383.

Then add a Levels Adjustment Layer to boost the overall intensity. Alter the settings under the RGB Channel to the following numbers:

• 0, 0.86, 206

5. How to Paint Realistic Waves

Try to perfect the color scheme before moving on. This will help yous avoid any trouble further downwards the line.

Step 1

An essential office of any realistic painting is texture. Nothing in nature is completely smooth, so y'all definitely want to add texture to this painting. Using the first brush from this lesson, start painting more waves onto the h2o.

Guide the waves with a few directional strokes based on your references.

Stride 2

So use a Charcoal Brush to paint calorie-free blue #9cdbe7 ocean spray onto the water.

Step 3

Utilise a Circular Brush with a slightly harder border (thirty-60% Hardness) to cleave out the wave shapes even more.

Continue your h2o references shut past to help you figure out this stride. Yous should now exist able to tell that the main wave is crashing simply in the middle.

Step 4

This scene features a beautiful sunset sky, and then it's important to make sure that the water reflects this lighting scheme. Showtime to incorporate more yellow paint into the mix past painting yellow #dadfc6 highlights onto the ocean spray with a Charcoal Brush.

Besides take this moment to clean up the foreground water with some blending. We'll demand to make certain it's relatively smooth before creating water ripples.

Stuck on this role? Learn more about blending from my beginner series: Digital Painting for Beginners.

Step 5

Now for the ripples. Cull a blue color #275866 that is much lighter than the water and then that it contrasts greatly confronting it. Begin drawing ripples on the h2o. Hither's a modest breakup of the types of wave shapes I created for this step.

1. Draw round shapes similar infinity symbols for the foreground ripples.
2. And then draw long curvy lines for the main wave to show the direction in which the moving ridge is moving and breaking.
3. Draw subtle wave shapes that overlap one another slightly as y'all movement farther back into the distance.
4. Stop with unproblematic, squiggly horizontal lines for the waves about the horizon.

Pace 6

This next phase requires an exquisite eye for detail. Commit to cleaning upwardly your painting by using a Hard Round Castor to paint more ocean spray onto the h2o. Add tiny dots to testify that the h2o is glistening similar glitter.

Set a New Layer to Overlay. Pump up the drama by using a Soft Circular Brush to paint low-cal yellow for the highlights and black for the shadow. This layer will help make those colors pop and give more than depth to the h2o.

Here's a earlier and afterward comparing of what this layer volition look like prior to changing the blend mode.

half-dozen. How to Cease Painting the Bounding main

Step 1

Merge all the layers together. I was unhappy with the electric current texture of the foreground moving ridge, so I decided to smooth things out a chip. To do this, I used a Soft Circular Brushwith 0% Hardness to paint softer blue hues on the inner parts of the wave.

Trial and mistake is a huge part of any painting process, so feel free to make abiding tweaks until yous're happy with the outcome.

Pace 2

Incorporate shades of green into the water for more depth. Switch back over to a Hard Round Brush to make sure that all the edges for each moving ridge are more crisp.

Step 3

Add a New Curves Adjustment Layer. Heighten the curves for the RGB and Blueish Channels to brand the entire scene bluer and brighter.

Footstep four

Pigment more waves and ripples.

1. Follow the natural direction of the center moving ridge and then that yous paint the others accordingly. Then bring the white ocean spray back into the curve of the crashing moving ridge for more realism.
2. Find how the waves get from curvy peaks to almost completely straight, horizontal lines. This is essential for achieving a natural sense of depth of field.

Step five

Continue shaping the clouds likewise. Make a option around the sky right higher up the horizon line with the Rectangular Marquee Tool (Thou), and hitting Control-J to Duplicate the layer.

At present you can apply a quick Color Lookup Adjustment Layer to the clouds with the setting: FallColors.wait. Right-click to set this layer equally a Clipping Mask to the clouds.

Now we have a beautiful sunset effect.

Whatever changes you make in the sky should exist reflected in the water below. So don't forget to zoom in and paint lite yellow h2o ripples underneath the sun in the upper left corner.

Step 6

Stop this painting with i last color aligning! Add together a New Levels Adjustment Layer to brighten up the scene. Select the RGB Channel and add the following settings:

• 5, 0.97, 242

That's information technology! Check out the final result below!

Congratulations, You've Made It!

Achieving realism depends greatly on your willingness to push forrard with the tiniest details. Subtle ripples, reflections, and changes in color or tone can transform your sea paintings overnight!

I hope you've enjoyed this tutorial. Feel free to leave whatsoever comments, questions, or suggestions beneath.

If yous're still having problems, so check out these beginner tutorials to teach y'all how to pigment more than efficiently in Adobe Photoshop:

Source: https://design.tutsplus.com/tutorials/how-to-paint-water-waves-and-the-ocean-in-adobe-photoshop--cms-28822

Posted by: henryrocklairling1983.blogspot.com

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